Speed-indicator for centrifugal machines.



H. N. FISHER. SPEED INDIGATOR FOB. CENTEIFUGAL MACHINES.

APPLIOATION PILED D EG.18, 1909.

A 1,025,259. Paented May 7, 1912.

HENBY N. FISI-IER, OF WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPEED-INDIGATOR FOR. CENTEIFUGAL IVIACHINES.

Specificaton of Letters Pateit.

Patented May 7, 1912.

Application filed December 18, 1909. Serial No. 533,90G.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, HENRY N. Fi sHnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Waltham, in the County of Middlesex and State of h assachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Speed-Indicators for Centrifugal Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to speed indicators for centrifugal machines and more especially tor hand-operated centritugal separators.

As is well understood, for the efiicient separation of cream centrifugally, a certain minimum speed must be Secured and maintained. Any reduction of this speed will result in only partial separation and any increase will result in unnecessary wear on the machine and, if the machine is of the hand-operated type, additional labor on the art of the operator.

In hand-operated centrifugal machines, it requires a certain amount of skill to maintain the minimum speed' 'required for efiicient separation and it is usual 'for the operator to endeavor with the aid of a timepiece to make a certain number of revolu- I tions per minute of the Operating crank in order to secure the dcsired speed. In a lever-operated machine it is still more ditticult, and in fact practically impossible, to uniformly maintain the requisite speed for the reason, among other things, that the operator may vary the length of the lever stroke.

The object of my invention therefore is to provide a simple and reliable visual speed indicator whereby an ordinary unskilled operator may ascertain at a glance that his machine is running at the speed requisite for the eiticient separation of the Cream from the milk.

For the purpose of more fully disclosing my invention I have illustrated one embodiment thereof in the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification, although it will be understood that various modifications may be made in the particular embodiment chosen without departing from the principle of my invention.

In the drawings Figure l is a section of my improved speed indicator showing one mode of attaching the same to a centrifugal machine and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a hand-operated cream Separator of the lever type provided with said speed indicator.

In the figures, l represents the outer wall of the Separator into which the tube 2 is threaded and held in position by the locknut 3. l is a plunger provided with a head 5 and working in the slceve 6. The flange 7 of said sleeve is secured to the pinion S and the brass collar 12 Secured to the outer end of the sleeve bears against the outer` end of the tube 2 thereby holding said sleeve against longitudinal movement in the tube. The centrifugally-operated levers 9 are pivoted at 10 to the brackets 4 which may be integral with the flange 7 so that said levers rotate with the pinion 8. The inner ends 11 of said levers bear against the head 5 of the plunger. The outer end of the plunger is provided with a target 14- which is made adjustable with respect thereto, preferably by threading the same on the plunger. A spring 13 is interposed between the target and the sleeve 6. A casing 15 arranged to normally conceal the target is driven over the lock-nut 3. The casng is provided with a slot 16 through which the target may be seen when the desired speed has been obtained. The gear 17 meshing with the pinion 8 is a part of the Operating meohanism of the separator; 18 represents the Separator iframe which incloses the gear 17 and other mech anisin whereby the bowl 20 is rotated. 19 is a hand-leverwhereby the internal mechanism of the Separator is operated.

The operation is as follows: When the gear l7 is put in motion by the operation of the gearing (not shown) to which it is connected and such motion is communicated to the pinion 8 and lev-ers 9, the latter by centrifugal action tend to move around their pivots and thercby force the plunger through the casing. By suitably tensioning the spring' 13 the levers will force the plunger through the casing when the desired speed has been attained, to such an eXtent that the target becomes visible through the slot. The operator then endeavors to maintain a uniform oscillation of the lever 19 or other Operating means and increases or diminishes the speed of the machine in accordance with the position of the target. Should the target be carried through the casing so far to the right that it will disappear under the slot he will reduce the speed of the machine, and conversely should the target pass from under the slot to the left, he will know that the speed must be increased. It has been found in practice to be very easy for even an unskilled operator to so proportion the length and number of strokes of the lever 19 as to keep the target under the slot, thereby insuring the proper speed of the machine.

I claim:

A visual centrifugally-operated speed indicator comprisng a easing provided With a slot, a plunger in said casing, a target adjustably mounted on said plunger and normally concealed by said oasing, a sleeve carrying said plunger, centrifugally-operating levers coperating With said plunger and arranged to draw the same through said casing and eXpose said target at said slot at a predetermined speed, a spring surrounding said plunger and nterposed between said sleeve and target, Whereby the tension of said spring may be varied by the adjustnent of said target 011 said plunger, and means upon which said levers are mounted for rotation.

In testimony Whereof, I have hereunto subseribed my name this 17th day of Dec. 1909.

HENRY N. FISHER. YVitnesses FREDERIC GEORGE MCMULLEN, FREDERICK XV. DERBYSHIRE.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). C." 

